The End
by FindMeBroken
Summary: Whoever said ‘the end is just the beginning’ was an idiot. When something is over, it’s done. There are no second chances, there are no new beginnings. It’s only one thing. It’s the end. ONESHOT REVISED


"Just stop and think about your future," she begged him, "Please."

"What if I don't want to stop and think? What if I already know?"

She sighed, obviously aggravated, "Please, enlighten me."

"My future consists of living in Boston or New Haven or even in Israel, if that's where you decide to go to college. And after that, my future consists of taking care of you. My future consists of asking you to marry me. My future, Rory, consists only of you. You know I'm not one for plans. The only thing that I have set in stone for my future is you."

Rory closed her eyes for a moment and let out a short groan, "Jess, we're teenagers. Who knows if we'll even still be together after all that time?"

"I do!"

"But Jess, you're not psychic. We don't know what will happen. But I'm going to college and I think it would be best that you didn't come with me."

"I won't let you do this, Rory. I won't let you break us up. We're meant to be together. I know we're young and I know we're stupid, but we can last."

"How can you take care of me, and how can you take care of yourself, how can you possibly take on such a great responsibility when graduating high school was too difficult for you?" she yelled, but quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

"That was uncalled for," he said evenly, "But you and I both know that I could've passed, with flying colors, no less, if I had just applied myself."

"Exactly!" she said, "So apply yourself. Get into a good college. Make something of your life. But, please, Jess, don't hold yourself back. Don't make me want to hold myself back to wait for you."

He knew everything she was saying was true, "So this is it? This is the end? This is where we press stop?"

"No, Jess. Not at all. This is where we press pause for a long bathroom break and maybe a few laps around the block. If you're right, and we really are meant to be together, the next few years will be on fast forward and before you know it we'll be hitting play. All we need is another shot at what we know is great. We just need to take a breather before jumping back into the ring. You know it's true."

He did and he nodded, "Whoever said 'the end is just the beginning' was an idiot."

She laughed a little and nodded then briskly turned away and headed home.

Many years later Rory DuGray lived with her husband and three children.

She had left for college a week after that final conversation with Jess. During her years at college she thought of Jess on occasion but it never lasted long. He was just that high school thrill only to be referred to in anecdotes of her childhood.

In her sophomore year, Rory met Logan Huntzberger and swore up and down that he would be the man she married. Her swearing was put to a quick halt a year into their relationship when she attended a social event with him and ran into an old schoolmate she was sure she would never meet again. Six months later she had broken up with one blonde rich society brat and started dating another. A year and a half later they were married.

Lorelai's marriage to Christopher was strong and thriving. Her and Luke had broken up when Chris had come back with an engagement ring and a promise to "do it the right way this time". She had surprised herself with her quick answer of "yes" and they were married soon after. Luke was now a distant memory for all of them, nothing more than the man who once poured them coffee.

Rory doesn't even remember that last conversation with Jess Mariano, let alone her promises for another go.

It was the total opposite for him. He held onto his sanity with that one hope that maybe she would come back, as she had promised those long years ago.

Jess knew he should just move on but he couldn't get her out of his head, even after all these years. Her promises rang through his mind and he remembered them as if she had said them yesterday.

He should have realized that it was over when he had presumed it to be. When something is over, it's done. There are no second chances, there are no new beginnings. It's only one thing. It's the end.

He knew that now, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't go back to try and convince her. He couldn't even keep himself from having fallen in love in the first place.

Fifty years later, Jess sat at his desk in his apartment on 5th Street. He had been alone his whole life. No woman ever compared to his elixir of life.

He read the obituaries and a tear slid down his face.

The article his eyes were glued to read:

_Lorelai__ Leigh __DuGray__, beloved wife and mother of four, has passed away. She knew of her impending death and asked her husband, businessman Tristan __DuGray__, to have an excerpt from her journal turned in to all the newspapers to be printed with her obituary. The excerpt is below:_

I hate how stories end with 'The End', where the line before it is generally '…and they lived happily ever after', so obviously it wasn't the end, it was just the beginning.

Someone once told me 'whoever said that the end was just the beginning was an idiot'. I couldn't agree more. Either it's an end or it's a beginning but it can't be both. They can happen simultaneously, i.e. one relationship ends and another begins. But an end and a beginning can never be the same thing.

And I know it's insanely cliché to say 'The End' after the final words of a story but this time it makes sense, I swear. Because that's what this is for me, and that's all it is.

The End

_Mrs. __DuGray__ died on November 12, 2076. Her family will miss her greatly._

Jess read the obituary over and over being sure not to miss one word of her diary entry. She had mentioned him. And she was dead.

He nodded his head as if in understanding and he finally reached that point in his life that he had waited for, for years. His love for Rory Gilmore had finally come to the inevitable:

THE END


End file.
